


Gonna Watch You Shine

by sullenhearts



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 10:43:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10965597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sullenhearts/pseuds/sullenhearts
Summary: Laurel offers to be a surrogate for Rob and Aaron. Title taken from "Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon





	Gonna Watch You Shine

The most surprising thing was that Laurel offered to be their surrogate. 

They weren’t even particular friends of hers, but like Aaron said, that was possibly for the better, because emotions were less muddled then and they also weren’t all in her business all the time. 

Laurel said she wanted something to do now that Ashley was gone, and offered herself as a surrogate one night at Bernice’s when they got talking about kids. “It would be something positive to focus on, you know? Growing a new life for a new family.” 

“It’ll all have to go through the lawyer,” Robert said, his head whirling not only with the port he was drinking but thoughts of a baby – their baby – their _baby_. “I’d want it all setting out properly.”

“Course you would,” Laurel said, tucking her legs up under her. “I would too.”

Robert had to give her her dues for that. He nodded seriously and took it back to Aaron. 

“Whose sperm would we use?” he wondered when they were on the way to the solicitors’ to see what advice they would give. 

“You mean, yours or mine?” Aaron said. 

“Yeah, I mean, if one of us wanted it?”

Aaron was silent for a second. “I googled some stuff. It said to use a donor egg so that it’s not technically Laurel’s baby.”

“Mmm, I can see how that would be better.” 

“Would you want a biological baby?” 

Robert inhaled. He could feel that Aaron was looking at him, so he concentrated very hard on the road in front of him. “Maybe?”

“Okay.”

“Would you? Mind you, I’m not sure I could raise a Dingle baby.”

“I’m offended.” Aaron clutched his chest in mock pain. “I’m not sure. I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it? I’m too gay for that nonsense.”

Robert laughed, turned the wheel to turn right. “I’d like it if it was yours. I’ve seen those baby photos, mate. Big eyes for days.”

Aaron smiled, that soft half-smile that made Robert want to cry. “Thanks love.”

As it was, when the three of them went off to the swanky clinic in a leafy north Leeds suburb, the doctor there had a better idea. “We often take sperm from both dads,” she said, looking up at them from her computer. “Mix it together if both samples are clean, and then when we inject the eggs no one has any way of knowing whose baby it is.”

“I like that,” Robert said.

“Unless we did a DNA test or something?” Aaron asked. He had his hand on Robert’s knee gently. Robert touched his fingers.

“Exactly,” the doctor said. “It’s easy enough to find out if you wanted to.”

Aaron nodded. “I’d like to mix it together, and then if it didn’t feel right to one of us, we could find out at any point.”

Robert wanted to kiss him right there, but he waited until they were alone at home again. “I really like the idea of not knowing.”

“So do I, I think,” Aaron said. “But there’s a get out clause if it felt like too much.”

This was the way they worked at things now. Slowly, carefully, gently. It felt good. It felt responsible. 

“I like the idea of raising another one like you,” Robert said. “Like Liv.”

“I like the idea of raising a little blondie,” Aaron said, and ducked away from Rob’s tickling fingers. 

*

Wanking off into a pot was one of the least erotic things Robert had ever done. There was porn provided, of course, a nice array of tastes and sexualities clustered in a neat pile under the coffee table in the middle of the room, but Rob couldn't bear the thought of leafing through where other fingers had been so he let them be, and just squeezed his eyes shut and thought about Aaron and a furtive handjob in the scrapyard office one time. A dangerous time, when Adam was just outside talking to a client, and could have walked in at any time. Rob pressed his lips together so no one would overhear him. It did the job.

Aaron was already back in the waiting room by the time Rob had got cleaned up and managed to stop himself looking so red by splashing his face with water from the sink. He was flicking through a magazine and looked up when Rob came down the corridor. “Alright?”

“Peachy,” Rob said, trying to just get out of there as fast as possible. 

The egg donor they chose was a pleasant looking dark blonde woman in her mid-20s, who said she had grown up in Harrogate and was hoping to become a nurse. She felt right – comfortable, someone they each could have known and grown up with. Plus her alias was given as Olivia, and Aaron laughed and said that it was a sign. 

“Good news,” the doctor said the next time they saw her, with Laurel between them like they were her parents. “We made four healthy embryos, so we’ll freeze three and transfer one into Laurel.”

“What if it doesn’t work?” Aaron asked.

“Then you’ve got the back up three.”

“I’m prepared to try at least twice,” Laurel said. “At _least_.” 

Rob squeezed her fingers, and then, when she went into the cold clinical room for the transfer, kept holding on to her. “I can go if you want,” he said. “If it feels a bit invasive.”

She shook her head. “You’ll both want to be at the birth, won’t you? It’s fine.”

“I hope so,” Rob said, concentrating hard on her face and not what the medical personnel were doing. “I’d definitely like to be.”

Aaron had hung back, waiting outside in the corridor, so while Laurel was given time to rest, her legs raised in stirrups, Rob went back to him.

“Hey,” Aaron said, and hugged him tightly.

Rob felt more emotional than he thought he would, so he clung back a bit, grounding himself with the feel of Aaron’s hoodie under his cheek. 

“Maybe baby,” Aaron said softly.

Rob laughed, taking a deep breath. “Hopefully baby.”

For the next two weeks they all had to wait. Rob was determined that they wouldn’t harass Laurel, but each time he saw her across the street he wanted to run across and ask how she was feeling. Did she feel sick, or weepy? Bloated, or crampy? Anything? Instead he just raised a hand to her and smiled. 

“Two weeks is a bloody long time,” Aaron said. “I’m dying to go over there.”

“So am I,” Robert said. “I thought it was just me.”

“What are we gonna be like if she is pregnant? She’ll have to move to Leeds so we can’t bother her.”

“I suppose we just have to be there as much or as little as she wants us to be.”

“Course,” Aaron said. “I just hope she wants us around a lot.”

Finally, the two weeks passed, and the three of them found themselves driving to the clinic again, all of them in Rob’s car, with Laurel in the passenger seat and Aaron in the back. No one said much. 

“Congratulations,” the doctor said an hour later. “Laurel is pregnant.”

Robert didn’t understand the words, felt like they were in a language he didn’t know, because they didn’t make sense, they couldn’t be _true_ , but he felt Aaron’s fingers squeeze his knee. Then Aaron stood up to hug Laurel tightly. 

Oh god. They were going to be parents. Rob felt Aaron’s arms go around him next, felt himself be whirled around, but it felt – fuck. 

_Fuck_. They were going to be parents.

“So what next?” Laurel asked. She had her hands clasped in front of her, delighted.

“Well,” the doctor said. “You’ll have a scan at six weeks, when about fifty percent of the time, we can see a heartbeat. If you can’t, it’s nothing to worry about. You’ll have another scan at nine weeks, and if that all looks okay we dispatch you back to the NHS.” She smiled. “Make your appointments on the way out, and try to take things easy.”

“Course,” Laurel said. “Oh, Rob. I’m so happy for you.” She put her arms round his neck and Robert hugged her tightly. 

“Thank you,” he said.

*

At home, they hadn’t even told Liv they were looking at surrogacy. They’d raised the possibility of a baby, and she’d been happy enough about it, but Rob was still worried about what she’d think when faced with the reality of a baby. 

“We shouldn’t tell her yet,” Aaron said when they got back home. He was making a cup of tea for them, Liv not yet back from school. “We should at least wait for the six week scan.”

Rob nodded. “Yeah, definitely. Christ, can you imagine seeing the heartbeat?”

“I know.” Aaron half smiled. “Our baby, mate.”

“Definitely. Dingle or no Dingle.”

“That’s Dingle-Sugden to you.”

Rob picked up his mug and blew on it. “Do you think?”

“Yeah, why not? That way it definitely belongs to both of us.”

Robert nodded. “I like it.”

For the next month, Laurel texted or spoke to them every few days. They had a group chat going and on the day before the scan Laurel texted to say that she’d been sick. 

Rob sent her back some love, and then went into the en-suite where Aaron was shaving over the basin. “That’s probably a good sign, isn’t it? If she’s feeling sick?”

“Probably? Dunno. I’m a bit clueless about pregnancy, love.”

“We should buy a book or something.”

Aaron nodded slowly. “If the scan’s okay tomorrow, we should definitely buy a couple of books.”

“Deal,” Rob said, and went back into the bedroom to get dressed. 

It was hard to tell who was more nervous. Laurel’s knee was bouncing up and down as they waited to be called through, but Aaron was biting the inside of his cheek. Rob’s palms were sweating and he kept rubbing them on his trousers, until eventually Aaron took his hand and entwined their fingers together. 

Finally they were called through. The sonographer was a big guy with a beard Rob wanted to run his fingers through. He knew his face had given him away because Aaron was smirking at him as they each sat down, waiting for Laurel to strip off behind the curtain. 

“Okay,” the sonographer said, applying some gel to Laurel’s stomach. It still looked totally normal, not pregnant at all, and Rob wondered if they’d be lucky enough for it actually to keep going their way or not. He reached for Aaron’s hand again. 

The sonographer was quiet for a few minutes, his screen turned away from them. Robert started to panic, searching his face for clues about what was going on – was it dead? Was it never there at all? He rubbed his neck, trying to force the panic down back into his stomach. Then the sonographer smiled. 

“Baby is looking really good for six weeks. Look, you can see the heartbeat.” He turned the screen towards them.

Rob looked carefully, not at first understanding what he could see. Then he could hear the tiny heartbeat, beating faster than Robert thought possible. The foetus itself didn’t look like much of anything really, but it was fine, the sonographer said it was fine. 

“I still don’t want to tell Liv,” Aaron said at home. “I just can’t bear the idea of it still going wrong and having to tell her that.”

“Alright,” Rob said. “It’s up to you.”

“Well, no, it’s up to you, too. You’re in loco parentis too.”

“Them are big words, Aaron,” Rob said, pulling him into a hug. 

“Yeah, you didn’t know I spoke Latin, did you?”

“Nope. You keep surprising me.”

Aaron laughed. “Maybe after the next scan?”

Rob nodded. “Maybe until it’s more certain, yeah.”

Only, they didn’t feel like they could after the nine week scan either. Everything was still fine, and this time they each came away with a photo of the scan. 

“Do you mind if I have one too?” Laurel asked. 

“Why would we?” Aaron said, frowning.

“Well, it’s not my baby… It might be weird.”

“It’s inside you,” Aaron said. “It’s yours as much as it’s ours.”

“Definitely,” Rob said. They were walking out of the clinic together and a door swished open in front of them. “You’re going to see the baby, you know. You’ll be able to see it every day.”

“Well, yeah, around the village, of course,” Laurel said. 

“Love,” Robert said gently. “You’ll always be a part of its life. We’re going to tell it all the time that you had it for us as a gift.”

“That’s lovely,” Laurel said. She sniffed loudly. “Sorry, I’m really emotional right now.”

“Pregnancy hormones,” Aaron said, nodding. “Oh, Robert, we never picked up any books.”

“Then let’s do that now,” Rob said, and drove them into Hotten to go to the bookshop. 

“I’m still not sure about telling her,” Aaron said, that night when they were in bed. “Liv, I mean.”

“No? How come?” Rob was leafing through the book they’d bought. 

“I don’t know.” Aaron sighed. “I don’t know if I’m scared? Like maybe she’ll think that we don’t love her anymore.”

“Rubbish. She knows we both adore her.” 

“Yeah, but… I dunno.”

“It’s up to you.” Rob leaned across and kissed his cheek. “I think she’ll be made up for us.”

“I hope so. I hope she’s going to be the best auntie in the whole world.”

“Well, Victoria might give her a run for her money.” Rob read for a bit. “Did you know, right now, our foetus is the same size as an olive?”

“One tiny olive? That’s mad.” Aaron laughed. “Tell Laurel that when you see her.”

“An olive?!” Laurel seemed outraged when Rob told her a couple of days later when he met her in the shop. “I’ve been up since six am throwing up for something the size of an olive?!”

Rob laughed. “I’m sorry.”

“Little blighter,” Laurel said. 

“I hope it’s worth it.”

“Course,” Laurel said. She had put a bag of tortilla chips and some dip on the counter. 

“Let me get those,” Robert said, and added it to his own shopping,

If David thought there was anything odd about Robert buying stuff for Laurel, he didn’t say anything. 

Soon enough, though, everyone would need to know, starting with Liv. 

*

The twelve week scan came around quickly. Rob had to dodge his sister’s questions about where he was going, and saw the suspicion cross her face. Christ, the last thing he needed was her thinking that he was cheating again. 

This time they were going to the hospital in Hotten. Rob was terrified they’d see someone they knew, but they got inside and sat in the waiting room without anything drastic happening. He couldn’t wait to see the foetus again. He’d been looking in the book as to what the baby should look like, and he wanted to hear the heart too. 

“Everything is great,” the sonographer said. “You’re looking really excellent, Laurel.”

“Thank god,” Laurel said. 

They each tucked a new photo into their wallets, and Aaron kept a couple more for Liv and Chas. 

“We can tell people now, can’t we?” he said on the way home. “It’s safe to?”

“Yeah, of course,” Rob said. “Liv first, then your mum.”

“And Victoria.”

“Yeah, Vic too.” Rob glanced at Aaron in the rear view mirror. “What about you, Laurel? Who knows?”

“Sandy, that’s all. He heard me throwing up and asked if I was okay.”

“We could tell Diane and your dad together?”

“That would be nice,” Laurel nodded. “I’m not sure my dad will really understand it?”

“I’m not sure a lot of people will,” Aaron said. 

Robert glanced at him again, but said nothing until they were alone again, eating a late lunch in the pub. “What are you worried about?”

“Well, Liv, obviously.”

“Yeah, okay. I still think she’s going to be fine about it.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see.”

“Who else?” Rob dipped a chip in his ketchup and waited. 

“My mum. I just…” Aaron lowered his voice, glancing at his mum who was drying glasses behind the bar. “I wonder if she’ll think it’s a good idea.”

“Why wouldn’t she?”

“Well, you know. Sometimes she seems to think we’ll break up at any minute.”

“Well, she’s wrong,” Rob said. “You and me is for good, isn’t it?”

“Course.”

“She’ll be thrilled. She gets to be a grandma.”

“She’ll probably kill us for calling her that.”

“She still won’t be able to resist the lure of a new baby, Aaron. She loves ‘em.”

Aaron still looked unconvinced. “Paddy won’t be happy either.”

“Paddy doesn’t get an opinion on our family, love,” Rob said, and touched Aaron’s knee under the table. 

They made a plan to take Liv to the cinema and then out for something to eat the next day, which was Saturday. Once there, they’d show her the picture and tell her about the baby.

The film was okay, but nothing special. Liv and Aaron had both enjoyed it, though. They were chatting about it as the three of them walked over to TGI Friday’s for food. 

It would definitely have never been Robert’s first choice of restaurant, but Liv liked it, and even Rob had to admit that the Jack Daniels ribs were worth eating. They ordered, waited for drinks to arrive, and then Aaron looked across at Rob.

“Liv, well, we’ve got something to tell you,” he said, smiling that soft half-smile at Robert. 

“Like what?” Liv asked suspiciously. She’d ordered a cream soda and she was playing with the straw in it, jabbing at the cubes of ice.

“We’re having a baby,” Aaron said, and pulled the scan photo out of his pocket and slid it across the table to her. 

“You’re… having a baby,” she said slowly. “And this is it?”

“Yeah, this is the twelve week scan,” Aaron said, his voice low and gentle in a way that made Rob’s stomach curl up with love for him. “Look, here’s its head.”

“How?” Liv asked, her fingers ghosting over the picture. “Whose baby is it?”

“Well,” Rob said, leaning forward. “We don’t know which of us is the biological dad, because we wanted to not know. We used a donor egg, and Laurel is pregnant with the embryo.”

“Laurel?” Liv looked up at him sharply. “Like, Gabby’s stepmum Laurel?”

“That’s the one. She offered, one night, so we all talked it out, and then we went to a clinic.”

“Right,” Liv said. “Right.”

“The egg donor lady was called Olivia,” Aaron said. “Well, that was the false name she was down as in the brochure. We thought it was good, we liked that.”

“Right,” Liv said again. She was frowning at the photo. 

Aaron and Robert looked at each other for a few seconds. 

“Liv?” Aaron asked gently. “What are you thinking?”

She sipped her drink and then looked up again. “Are you both happy about it?”

“Thrilled,” Aaron said. “Aren’t we?”

“Thrilled and scared to death,” Rob said. “I’ve barely ever even held a baby.”

She smiled at that. “They’re supposed to be difficult.”

“You’re difficult, but you’re worth it,” he told her. 

She laughed at that. “Meanie.”

“It’ll be worth it,” Aaron said. “Well, we hope it will.”

“Can I keep this?” Liv asked, picking up the photo.

“Absolutely,” Rob said. “That’s your copy, to keep.”

“Thanks.” She opened her purse and carefully slipped the photo inside. “I think I like it? I think it’ll be noisy and frustrating and will totally interrupt my exams, but I also think you’ll be good dads.”

“Thank you,” Aaron said, and leaned across to kiss her head. 

Chas was next. Aaron asked her to come over to the Mill after her shift. Liv was doing homework. Rob dipped the lights low and opened a decent bottle of red, and was pouring three glasses when Aaron showed Chas through to the kitchen. 

“What’s all this?” Chas said, taking the glass and crisps from a bowl Rob offered. 

“We’ve got news,” Aaron said. He came over and slipped his arm round Rob’s waist. 

“Oh yeah?” Chas leaned against the counter, looking at them both.

God, this was terrifying. How could something that was supposed to be good news feel so terrible? Rob felt sick. 

“You’re going to be a grandma,” Aaron said. “We’re having a baby.”

Chas shrieked. Screamed. That was the only word for it. She clapped her hands over her mouth and Robert was glad she’d put her wine glass down. “Oh my god.”

“I know,” Aaron said, but he was smiling.

“I’m not old enough to be a grandma! Aaron!”

“Sorry,” he said.

He wasn’t. They weren’t. Rob kissed Aaron softly. 

“How?” Chas asked, coming over to hug both of them. “When?”

“Laurel’s being our surrogate,” Aaron said, squeezing his mum. “She offered, she said she wanted something positive to do, something to focus on.”

“That’s amazing,” Chas said. “Huge, but amazing. You should’ve asked me, I would have done it.”

Aaron pulled a face at her. “That would’ve been too weird even for us.”

Chas laughed. “So when?”

“She’s twelve weeks,” Robert said, and this time he pulled out his wallet to show her the picture.

“That’s brilliant,” Chas said. “Oh god, I’m going to be a grandma.”

“The best grandma,” Aaron said. 

Even though Robert agreed he still felt the pain of his own parents not being there. At least the baby would have his sister, and Diane. 

*

He knew Vic went to the grave on Tuesdays after her shift, so he wandered up to the graveyard and found her sitting on the bench under the tree, her head tipped back to the watery spring sunshine. It had been a difficult year for Victoria and the strain showed permanently on her face, but as Robert walked towards her she just looked peaceful, chilled out. He almost didn’t want to disturb her.

“Wotcha,” he said, and sat down next to her.

“Christ, you made me jump,” she said, her face snapping to his. She pushed her hands into her pockets. “I didn’t know you ever came up here.”

“I don’t, much. I find it hard, that’s all. I don’t feel like they’re here.”

“Me neither, sometimes.” She sighed. “Then sometimes I feel like I’m sitting by the fire, with Dad in the armchair, waiting for me to talk.” 

“That look on his face, and that grotty green jumper stinking up the place.”

Vic laughed. “Yeah, exactly.”

“I’m glad I found you, anyway.” Robert pulled the scan photo out of his pocket and held it between them. “We’re having a baby.”

“Robert…” She swallowed, her eyes fixed on the photo. 

“I know, I know it’s a lot to take in. I know you’ll be upset and I’m sorry, I’m sorry that this might cause you pain.”

“It’s not that…” she said, but it was, Rob knew. He waited while she sniffed back tears and wiped them away from her eyes. “God, are you really going to be a dad?”

“I hope so, very much,” Rob said. “We’re really looking forward to it. This is the twelve week scan and so far everything looks good.”

“That’s amazing,” Vic said. She smiled. 

“Laurel is our surrogate.”

“That’s so good of her! You know, I’d have done it if you’d asked.”

“Yeah,” Rob said, nudging her. “I thought you might say that. I’m grateful…”

“But you thought I’d be too upset.” She nodded slowly. “No, I would have.”

“They prefer women who’ve already had children of their own,” Rob explained. “We researched it, I promise.” 

Vic nodded again, tucked her arm through Robert’s, and the two of them sat there for a while, each thinking in the silence. 

Paddy was less than enthusiastic. He kept looking over at Robert and then away, whenever Rob met his stare. “Aaron,” he said. “Are you sure about this?”

“Very, very sure.” Aaron kept smiling, fixedly. “We’re going to have a baby of our own, Paddy. You’re basically going to be a granddad.”

“Which one of you is the dad?” he asked.

“We don’t know,” Aaron said. “We both donated and they use both – it’s really good. Could be either of ours. In any case, it’s ours full stop.”

“Right,” Paddy said. “Right.”

“He’ll get used to it,” Robert said as they walked back home. “I dare him to try to resist your baby. He’s going to be over the moon, you’ll see.” 

Diane was thrilled. She put her arms round Robert’s neck immediately, nearly crushing the breath out of him. “I’m thrilled for you, pet. Both of you.” She tugged Aaron into the hug too. 

“It’s a big thing you’re doing,” Doug said to Laurel. “A really big thing.”

“I know, Dad,” she said softly. “It’s good though, okay? I thought about it for a long time before I even said anything to these two. I wanted to do something good, something for someone that they couldn’t do themselves… I think Ashley would be proud.”

Doug considered this for a moment, then nodded. “I think he’d think it was a lovely thing. Won’t it be difficult, though? Seeing the baby all over the place?”

“It’s not my baby,” Laurel said patiently. “It’s a donor egg. I’m just incubating it for a while.”

“Besides which,” Robert said, finally managing to disentangle himself from Diane. “We’ve got her down for babysitting duty.”

“You’ll be lucky,” Laurel said, but she winked at him as she said it. 

*

Laurel came into the back of the pub, smiling widely. “I can feel it kicking!” 

“Oh my god,” Aaron said, and bounced out of his seat and over to her. 

“Can I?” Chas said, following him. “Can we feel it?”

“I hope so?” Laurel said. She touched her stomach; she didn’t look pregnant hardly at all. She hadn’t told many people. “They’ll figure it out, eventually,” she had said. “And they’ll be nosy or they won’t be, I don’t care.” Robert thought she was being naïve, but Aaron had told him not to worry, and Liv told him that haters gonna hate, and then laughed at him when he frowned at her. So he was trying to not worry. He stood up and went over to Laurel. “It was about here,” she was saying. “Sort of just next to my belly button.” 

Aaron put his hand on her stomach, a crease between his eyes as he looked at her, and for a few moments there was silence, just all silently looking at Aaron.

And then he smiled, and made a noise that sounded like joy, and Robert reached to touch Laurel too and then he _felt it_ , just a tiny flutter under her skin. 

Their baby, their _baby_. Rob already knew he loved it, loved that tiny little life more fiercely than he had thought he could – it felt like how he loved Aaron, too, only he knew that Aaron could look after himself, and well, the baby wouldn’t be able to, not to begin with. 

“It’s six inches long now,” Robert said, letting Chas feel for the kicks too. “Just six inches of baby.”

Laurel smiled up at him and he smiled back at her, trying to blink back the tears that had sprung to his eyes. 

When the twenty week scan came around, it happened to be in Liv’s holidays. “Can I come?” she asked, appearing downstairs just as Aaron was about to tell her they were leaving. “They’ll let me in, won’t they?”

“Oh, erm…” Aaron said.

“Course you can,” Robert said. “It’s really lovely to see, yeah?”

“Yeah, I’d sort of worked that one out,” Liv said, following them out to the car. “It’s the one where they can tell you if it’s a boy or a girl, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Aaron said. “They can.”

“Well, what are you hoping for?”

“Oh, a little princess just like you,” Robert said. “Sugar and spice and all things nice.”

“Just for that,” Liv said, opening the passenger door of Aaron’s car. “You’re sitting in the back.”

If the sonographer was surprised to see four of them rock up to the appointment, she didn’t show it. “Hiya,” she said, motioning Laurel behind the screen. “Are you wanting to find out the sex of the baby?”

“Yes please,” Aaron said. “Are you always right?”

“Nearly always, yeah. If I’m not sure, I won’t say, but usually we can make the baby move well enough to see properly.”

“Well, let’s hope our little one is a show off,” Robert said, and sat down next to Laurel when she was ready, pulling Aaron with him. Liv came over too, sitting on the other side of Laurel. 

The sonographer moved her wand over Laurel’s stomach. “Looking good… Measuring well… Nice, strong heartbeat.” She turned on the machine that meant they could hear the baby. 

“Woah,” Liv said, her eyes widening. She turned towards them. “It’s so fast!”

“I know,” Aaron said, not taking his eyes off the screen. “It’s lovely, innit?”

“Yeah,” Robert said, and pressed his lips to the back of Aaron’s hand. 

“Well,” the sonographer said. “I think this is a very healthy little girl.”

Rob felt like his heart had stopped. A girl? A baby girl? They were going to have a little girl – a tiny one to go with their teenaged one, another girl to confound and confuse Robert but also to steal his heart and to be one of the reasons that he kept on the straight and narrow. 

“Amazing,” Aaron said. “Isn’t that amazing?”

“It’s brilliant,” Rob said, and had to bury his head in Aaron’s shoulder.

They went back to the village with a copy of the scan photo for half the population, it felt like. Liv went into Laurel’s place to talk to Gabby, and Aaron and Robert walked down to the pub, hand in hand. 

“What are we going to call her?” Rob said. “Have you thought about it?”

“A bit? Have you?”

“Do you want to keep it biblical?”

“Yeah,” Aaron said slowly. “I sort of do?”

“Typical.” 

“Come on, there’s loads of nice biblical names for girls.”

“If you suggest Rebecca, I might kill you?”

Aaron laughed. “No, let’s take that right off the table.”

Rob laughed too, feeling a lightness that they could mention her name now without either of them feeling terrible about it. 

“What can I get you?” Chas asked when they went in. She smiled pleasantly, then widened her eyes. “Oh! It was the scan! How did it go?” She came round the bar to them.

“We’re having a very healthy, gorgeous looking baby girl,” Aaron said. 

She shrieked again, the same noise she’d made before, when they’d told her about the baby in the first place. Robert was pretty sure if she did it when the baby was born the poor kid would go deaf. 

“Bloody hell,” Rob said. 

“Sorry,” Chas said, and took the photo off Aaron. “Oh, that’s lovely. You’re going to love her.”

“We already do,” Aaron said. “We really already do.”

*

The bedroom next to theirs in the Mill was the smallest of all four of the bedrooms they had. It was at the corner of the house and had windows on two sides. It was perfect for a nursery and Rob almost wondered if that was the way they’d designed it, only surely neither of them had been thinking about a baby all that time ago. 

“No pink,” Robert said when Aaron asked when exactly they were going to decorate the nursery, since Laurel was now thirty weeks pregnant and time was marching on faster that Robert thought possible. “Anything, but no pink.”

“Yeah, alright. I was thinking cream.”

“Erm, no,” Robert said. “Cream isn’t for babies.”

“You like cream. The whole kitchen would’ve been cream if it was up to you.”

“Yeah, but not for a baby.”

“I’m pretty sure she won’t have any strong interior design ideas until she’s at least three,” Aaron said. He sat down next to Robert and stole the remote control from beside Liv. 

“Oi,” Liv said, but she had one eye on her laptop and the other on her phone, so there was no way she was actually watching the telly. 

“Why no pink?” Aaron said. “I mean it doesn’t need to be like Barbie’s dream house, but even so…”

“We can do better than that,” Robert said, only he couldn’t see how exactly they would decorate the room. 

“Do it yellow,” Liv said. “Yellow, with a big rainbow on the back wall.”

They both looked at her, but she wasn’t paying any attention. 

“I…” 

“I like that idea,” Aaron said. “Pale yellow, with clouds and a gorgeous big rainbow…”

Robert turned and smiled at him. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that too.”

“This is amazing,” Laurel said three weeks later when they had painted the walls and put up the big rainbow and cloud decals they’d managed to find. They’d invited her and the kids over for tea and the kids were downstairs making pizzas, laughing madly as Arthur fed bits of pepperoni to Dotty. “I love it.”

“We’re glad you approve,” Rob said. “It was Liv’s idea but it’s nice, isn’t it?”

“It’s gorgeous.” 

“Still got furniture to buy,” Aaron said. “We’ve got the Next catalogue downstairs if you want to look.”

They went back downstairs, Laurel taking one step at a time. 

“Are you feeling okay?” Robert asked. 

“Just a bit of sciatica,” Laurel said. “It’s nothing, the midwife wasn’t too concerned about it.”

“Hot water bottle?” Rob offered once they were back in the living room.

“Oh, you know, that would be lovely,” Laurel said, and then reached for the cup of tea Gabby was offering her. 

Rob found one, and filled it up as he was making tea for himself and Aaron too. Aaron curled himself round his cup in the chair in the living room. 

“So how big is it now?” Laurel asked. “She, sorry. How big is she?”

“At nearly thirty-four weeks?” Rob pulled his phone out to look at the pregnancy tracker app he’d downloaded weeks ago. “She’s almost eighteen inches long and about the same size as a cantaloupe.”

Laurel smiled. “It’s still amazing how something so small can make her presence so well known.”

Rob sat down next to her, putting the hot water bottle behind her. “Can I feel?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Rob put one hand on her, waiting for the kicks which were stronger every time he felt them. “Is it so bad?”

“No, no. Of course not. I need the loo every five minutes, and I really wish I could eat a rare steak and some deep fried Camembert, but…”

Aaron laughed. 

Rob felt the kicks, or maybe they were hands reaching out to his. “When it’s all over, we’ll take you out for steak and cheese, I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Laurel said. “What were you saying I should look at?”

“Oh, here,” Rob said, and pulled the catalogue over towards the two of them.

Aaron came over too, balancing on the edge of the sofa. “We like this pale ash set.”

“Yeah, that is nice,” Laurel said. 

“Or this white one,” Robert said. “The negotiations are ongoing.”

Aaron smiled at him over the top of Laurel’s head. 

There was a tiny sound, and then another, and Robert realised that Laurel was crying softly. 

“Oh… Laurel,” he said, and touched her shoulder gently. 

“It’s okay,” she said, but it wasn’t, and she burst into tears, putting her hands over her face. 

“Mum?” Arthur said uncertainly from the doorway.

“It’s okay,” Aaron said, and herded him back into the kitchen, closing the door quietly behind them. 

Robert put his arms round Laurel and let her sob, let her body sag against him. Eventually her tears subsided and she sat back, away from him. 

“I’m sorry.”

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for,” Robert murmured. “I promise.”

“It’s just hormones, that’s all.”

“Yeah, of course.”

Laurel found a tissue in her pocket and blew her nose loudly. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know where that came from.”

“It’s fine. I know it’s a big deal emotionally.”

“I know you’ll be worrying in case I won’t give her up or something.”

“Course not,” Rob said, but the thought had crossed his mind, of course it had. Legally, even though the baby wasn’t hers biologically, it remained hers until she’d signed her rights away, and it was terrifying to think about. But she wouldn’t, she wouldn’t do that.

“I know she’s not mine,” Laurel said. “It’s not even about her, not really. I was just thinking about Dotty, and about when she was born…”

“And Ashley was just getting ill.”

“Exactly. It just wasn’t what I wanted it to be, you know? We had all these plans...”

“I’m sorry they didn’t come out like you wanted them to.”

“So am I.” She gave him a watery smile and then stood up. “Do you think pizza’s ready?”

“I do,” Rob said, and followed her into the kitchen.

“The thing is,” he said later that night to Aaron, when they were in bed and everything was quiet, “is that she probably has bonded with the baby? It’d be totally natural if she has.”

“Course,” Aaron said. He had his tablet in his hand, but he wasn’t looking at it. He was chewing the inside of his cheek again. 

“And we’d have no leg to stand on, legally. In fact, whichever of us is the bio dad would end up liable for child support.”

“Right, but even if she has bonded with it, that doesn’t mean she wants to keep it.”

“But what if she does? What are we going to do if she does?” 

“I don’t know,” Aaron said. “I just can’t let myself think about it, Robert, okay? I just have to believe that this will go right for us, yeah? I just can’t think about us not having that baby in this house in a couple of months.”

“I’m sorry,” Robert said immediately. “I know. It’s okay, yeah. We both really want it, don’t we?”

“Yeah. Yeah, we do. It’ll be okay, Rob. It just has to be.”

Rob nodded, and shifted down in the bed to go to sleep. It had to be okay, for him and Aaron both. 

*

They bought the ash set of furniture a couple of weeks later. A cot, a changing table, a little wardrobe, and a chest of drawers. They already had a pale green armchair that looked really nice in the corner. “For night feeds,” Rob said. “One of us will need it.”

“You,” Aaron said. “That’s entirely your department.”

“Charming,” Rob said. 

Chas came over with a bunch of carrier bags. “Okay, so, sue me, but you said you’d got the wardrobe in and I just wanted to be the first person to give you something to put in it.” 

“Alright…” Aaron said, letting her into the house. 

She put the bags down in the middle of the living room floor and knelt down among them. “Okay, I bought a ton of nappies and nappy cream, boring but necessary, and you’ll go through thousands.”

“Thanks,” Aaron said, sitting down. 

Rob sat down too, leaning forward to look at his mad mother-in-law. She was so happy, though. She went into another bag and came out with bottles. “And dummies!” she said. “I’m not too sure about what milk is best now, so I didn’t get any of that. And you’ll need a steriliser, too.”

“It’s okay,” Aaron said. “Robert’s already trying to decide between the best milks on the market on one of his bloody apps.”

“Course he is,” Chas said, and shot him a fond grin. “Nothing ordinary for our little girl, eh?”

“You’re one to talk,” Robert shot back. “We all know this kid is going to have a bigger wardrobe than you, and that’s saying something.”

“Cheeky.” Chas pulled out some clothes from another bag. “Babygros, they’re not that exciting, but they have got rainbows on them.”

Aaron took them. “They’re ace, thanks.” He passed them over for Robert to look at. 

“And I couldn’t resist this,” Chas said, pulling out a t-shirt that said ‘Grandma’s little angel’ on it. 

“That’s terrible,” Rob said. “She’s never wearing that.”

“She bloody is, I’ve bought it now.”

“She can wear it with you,” Aaron said diplomatically. 

“Thanks love,” Chas said. “Okay, and I had to buy her this little dress. It was just too cute for me to leave behind.”

She pulled out a dress and passed it over. It was striped vertically, sort of faded like a comfy denim shirt, and each stripe was a different colour of the rainbow. It was perfect.

“This is gorgeous,” Rob said. “I almost wish I’d got a shirt in this fabric.”

“I almost wish you did too,” Aaron said, laughing. “Thanks Mum. That’s lovely of you.”

“I am the first, aren’t I? Diane hasn’t given you anything yet, or Paddy?”

“No, you’re definitely the first. Thanks.” Aaron leaned forward to hug his mum. 

Rob kept rubbing the fabric between his fingers. The whole thing was just so _small_. It was incomprehensible to think that in just a month’s time there’d be a whole person who was small enough to fit into this living in their house, relying on them for every little thing. It was almost too much.

Robert wished, not for the first time, that either of his parents were there to see this. Even his dad might have come round once they’d got married and shown they were serious about each other. Jack liked babies – Robert could remember how utterly blissed out he was when Victoria was born. They both should be here to see it. 

Before bed they went into the nursery and stacked the nappies carefully, took the babygros out of the packet and slid them into a drawer, and then Aaron put the dress in the wardrobe and took a picture to send to his mum. 

“It’s loopy,” Aaron said, cuddling into Robert. “She’ll be here before we know it.”

“I know.”

“I’ve got a couple of names…”

“Still thinking biblical? You know, I think Jezebel’s got a certain ring to it.”

“Over my dead body,” Aaron said. 

“Orpah? You know, that’s what Oprah was supposed to be called, only there was a spelling mistake.”

“I actually did know that. I was looking up what Deborah meant, even though we couldn’t actually use it.”

“Oh yeah? Never realised she was named in the family tradition too.”

“Mmm,” Aaron said, and looked around the room again. 

“Shame it’s not a boy. I quite fancy Habbakuk for a son.”

“Stop taking the piss, will you? Either we give her a nice biblical name and you shut up, or you get all the jibes in about my family and I walk out of this discussion.”

Robert felt a pain. “I’m sorry. Mate, I’m sorry.” 

“Mmm.”

“No, really, I am. I didn’t…”

“Didn’t what?” Aaron pulled away, fiddled with the yellow curtains at the window next to him. 

“I didn’t realise it meant that much.”

Aaron nodded. “I know it sounds daft, but it’s a family thing, and I kinda like it? It’s part of the clan.”

Robert moved closer to hug him again. “Tell me what you’re thinking of.”

“Well, I liked Sarah, and that would’ve been nice for you, too, obviously…”

“Only Andy got his oar in first there. Yeah, fair enough.”

“And I would like to give her the middle name Olivia.”

Robert nodded. “That would be nice. I bet she’d love that.”

“Yeah, yeah. I dunno. I’m still looking.”

“Alright, well. Let’s look together.” Rob took Aaron’s hand and went back into their bedroom with him, and opened his iPad to google. 

A week later they were in the supermarket when Aaron headed over to the baby aisle. 

“What are you looking for?” Rob asked. “We’ve got everything we could possibly need.”

“I want her to have a present,” Aaron said. 

“What kind of present?”

“A toy. That’s from us.”

They wandered up the soft toy section together, picking things up. Some things weren’t suitable – too hard, or they had hard eyes that babies could choke on, or something else that made them reject it. But then there was a cream rabbit, with floppy ears and fabric eyes, and a pink tummy. 

“That’s really nice,” Rob said, stroking its head.

“Perfect,” Aaron said. “Her first toy from her daddies.”

Rob smiled, and then leaned forward to kiss Aaron softly. 

Laurel took to walking around the village once the kids were in bed. “It’s my back. Well, pelvis. It’s so painful.”

“And walking in circles helps it?” Rob was on his way back from the shop and had seen Laurel standing on the street, her hands on her back, rubbing gently. 

“More than sitting at home, yeah.”

“Let me drop these at home and I’ll come with you.”

She walked over to the Mill with him, waited while Robert dropped the bags inside the front door and shouted to Aaron that he wouldn’t be long, and then they set off together. 

“I’ve been having some false labour,” Laurel said. They crossed over and went into the park, heading towards the stream.

“Really? Isn’t that something we should go to the hospital about?”

“No, no. It’s just false contractions. Just the body’s way of getting ready for labour.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very. I had weeks of it with Dotty. It’s fine.” 

They went over to the stream and stood for a while in the fading light, watching the water. 

“You will ring us, though, if anything happens?”

“You’ll be the first to know,” Laurel said. “I promise. The minute it gets worse, or my waters break.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you all ready for her?”

“Yes and no?”

“Are you scared?” Laurel turned to lean against the bridge so she could look at him.

“Terrified.”

“I think that’s natural.”

“Do you?”

“I think all parents are terrified, Robert. They don’t give you a manual, you know. They just give you the baby and a blanket and a smile and a wave and that’s it.”

“Is this supposed to be helping me?”

“No, I just want you to know that it’s natural. We all feel it, but we keep going and fumbling our way through and then, well, if you haven’t broken the baby and it’s still fed and all that stuff, I think you’re doing okay.”

“I definitely think she’ll be fed and loved.”

“And that’s the main thing. Love.”

“It’s all that’s got us through it so far,” Robert said.

Laurel smiled. “I think if you and Aaron didn’t love each other you’d have given it up a long time ago.”

“Exactly.”

“Ugh, I need to sit down,” Laurel said a few moments later. 

“I’ll push you on the swings if you want.”

“Deal.” 

They walked over and Rob pushed her a few times, letting Laurel swing gently, and then sat on the next swing along. He pushed off from the floor, put his legs out in front of him to get the motion going, and swung for a while, letting the air rush past his ears as he went back and forth. 

Scared was okay. He was scared of messing things up with Aaron, still, and that kept them right, kept him sane. If he was scared too of fucking up the child, he’d be careful not to, wouldn’t he? More than careful. He’d read all the books and think carefully before he did anything rash. 

She’d be okay. She’d be supported and loved and he’d do anything in his power to make sure she was happy. 

*

Laurel phoned early on Sunday morning. “I think it’s time to go to the hospital? It’s not urgent, but maybe in half an hour or so?”

Aaron bounced out of bed when Rob told him, even though he’d been sleeping deeply until moments before. “Christ. Fuck. Right. What are we doing first?”

“Calming down?” Robert said, getting up too. “Get showered, dressed, all of that.”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.” 

They both got ready, woke Liv up and got her stuff together. Sandy had offered to keep an eye on her, so she picked up her pillow and went over with them to Laurel’s house. 

Laurel was ready to go, her bag in her hand. 

“Okay?” Aaron asked. 

“I’ve been better.” She smiled, showing she wasn’t entirely serious. “I started last night, but I was just timing the contractions, and my waters broke at about five am.”

“Okay, excellent.” Robert programmed that time into the app on his phone. “How far apart are the contractions now?”

“Less than ten minutes.”

“Okay, good. We all set?”

“You will ring me,” Liv said nervously. 

“As soon as anything happens,” Aaron said. “I promise.” He leaned down to kiss her cheek. 

Rob squeezed her shoulder and then the three of them left, Laurel in the back next to the – for now – empty car seat. 

“When we’re next back,” he said, looking at it in the rear view mirror, “that car seat will be occupied.”

Aaron’s hand rested on his thigh and he smiled. 

They waited around for hours. The midwife said that Laurel was progressing well, and she was given a bed in a ward of four, until she reached live labour. Robert pulled the curtains round the bed, wanting to just focus on the three of them. 

“I wish Ashley was here,” Laurel said after an hour and a half. 

“I wish he was too,” Rob said. “I feel sort of guilty that we’ll just basically be abandoning you after the birth.”

“I’ve got Bernice coming to stay for a while to look after me.”

“I’m not sure if that’s good or bad,” Rob laughed.

“Me neither.” Laurel moved on the bed again, her feet dangling off the side. “I can’t get comfortable.”

After four hours labour had slowed down. The midwife – a youngish plump woman called Emily – shook her head. “I don’t want to have to give you something,” she said. “Can you walk around a bit?”

Aaron walked with her up and down the corridor outside the maternity ward, going slowly, Laurel pausing every few metres. There was pain written on her face. Rob sat on a comfortable chair at the top of the corridor, watching as they turned around and came back towards him. Aaron was rubbing her back gently and murmuring quietly to her, which was more than Robert would have thought to do for her. God, he wished he could be more use.

“You can be useful and get everyone a cuppa,” Aaron said.

“Course,” Robert said, and checked with the midwife, who said it was fine. He bought three cups of sugary tea and some bags of crisps.

Laurel sat down next to him in the corridor to sip her tea. “Oh, that’s better.” 

The walking around had got things moving again. The midwife was happier and she told them she’d leave them for a while more and come back. Only then someone came in in much more active labour and they were forgotten for a few hours. Laurel began to moan through the contractions, gritting her teeth as they rose within her. When they abated slightly she was flicking through a Chat magazine. 

“Two timed by text,” she said, and started to read out the story, pausing after a few minutes when the pain swelled again. 

“Right, we’re down to two minutes,” Robert said, checking the app. “For the last six contractions.”

“Should we get someone?” Aaron said.

“Yes please,” Laurel said. “I’m starting to feel like I want to push.”

Emily came back when Aaron got her and checked Laurel again. “Yep, that cervix is opening nicely.”

Robert grinned at her. “So now what?”

“We’ll find you a birthing room. Sit tight.”

“She says that,” Laurel said. “She’s not the one – ohhhh!” She squeezed Aaron’s fingers tightly, her other hand gripping the edge of the bed so hard that her knuckles turned white. 

The birthing room was private, and its lights were dimmed, and Emily stayed with them from now. 

“Breathe,” she said to Laurel. “Breathe with Aaron.”

Aaron had it down pat, breathing in deeply, making Laurel focus on his face. The contractions had deepened, that much was obvious. Laurel looked scared, almost, but she was looking at Aaron like he was a lifeboat in a storm. That was a feeling Robert could completely identify with. 

“I want to move,” Laurel moaned. 

She started to walk around, Aaron’s arm supporting her. She was wearing a hospital gown and it was too big for her everywhere, except over her stomach, where the material stretched against the bump. Rob wanted to remember how she looked forever, wanted to remember every minute of this so that they could tell their daughter about it later, when she was older. Laurel bent over, in pain, her voice raising again. 

“Excellent,” Emily said, her voice the only oasis of calm Robert could cling on to. “Do you want to push?”

“Yes,” Laurel moaned. “Christ, I’d forgotten how much this hurts.” 

Time seemed to speed up. She was pushing, her hand gripping Aaron’s still, pulling him close. He was still breathing with her, still making her focus on him, murmuring encouragement to her. Robert was so impressed; it was like he knew instinctively what to do. Robert kept his hand on her thigh, saying what he hoped were the right things. She pushed, and pushed, and breathed, and pushed, and screamed, and told Aaron she was a bloody idiot for getting herself into this, and pushed some more, and then time stopped. 

And there was a baby.

Another living, breathing person in the world.

A tiny wriggling squalling being, covered in blood. 

It was 6.15pm. They’d been here for just less than twelve hours and now their baby was here. 

“Well done,” Emily said soothingly. “Well done, she’s here.” She lifted the baby up and started to clean her with a white cloth, checking that she was breathing right. 

Robert couldn’t take his eyes off them, watching the midwife do her thing. 

“Would you like to cut the cord?” Emily asked, looking up at Robert.

“Is that… Can I?” He looked at both Aaron and Laurel, who both nodded. Emily handed him some strange scissors and they felt unwieldy in his hand, like he’d never used scissors before. Would it hurt her? The baby was still screeching, and Laurel was crying, and she delivered the placenta and then sank back on to the bed, curled on her side. Robert cut the cord, chewing his lip, and waited for what was next. 

“You’re amazing,” Aaron said, his voice low. He was still bent over Laurel. “Are you okay?”

“No,” she said. “Yes.”

“Don’t have to be.” 

“That was amazing,” Robert said. He went over to her, aware he was covered in blood, worried that he shouldn’t touch her. “You did so well, so brilliant. I’m in awe.”

Laurel laughed and sobbed at the same time, and turned slightly. “Do I need stitches?” she asked Emily.

“I think so. Give me ten minutes and I’ll be with you. Keep her warm, lads.”

Aaron pulled the sheets up around Laurel. “Want a cuddle?”

“Yes please,” Laurel said, in a voice that sounded beyond exhausted. 

Aaron got on the bed beside her, pressing his entire self against her. Rob could see she was shaking, her whole body was convulsing. 

“He’s good at that,” Rob said. “He’s brought me round a couple of times that way.”

“Yeah,” Laurel said, muffled from inside Aaron’s shirt somewhere. “I can see how it would help.”

From the corner of the room, Emily said, “Just a shade under seven pounds. Six pounds fifteen.”

“And is she okay?” Robert asked. “Healthy?”

“She looks perfect.” Emily was dressing her so carefully, unfolding all her limbs, putting her into the little pink babygro they’d brought with them. “The doctor will check her over in an hour or two.” 

“See,” Rob said, bending down to kiss Laurel’s cheek when she moved. “You did well.”

“I did, didn’t I?” She was smiling now, a bit of colour back in her cheeks. 

Emily offered Robert the baby, so he took her, carefully, hardly daring to touch her. She was so new. Her skin was almost translucent and she had a smattering of fair hair on the back of her head. She was tiny – his hands felt like they were far too big to hold her comfortably. He cuddled her in gently, though, letting her settle in the crook of his arm. Then he brought her close to Laurel and Aaron, perching on the edge of the bed so they could see her. 

“She’s perfect,” he said. He was crying, but his smile was so wide he felt like his face would split open. “She’s perfect.”

“She’s gorgeous,” Aaron said. “Utterly gorgeous.” He was crying too, tears running into his beard. He wiped them away, and shook his head in disbelief at Robert. 

“She is,” Laurel agreed. “So, come on, what’s her name?”

They’d agreed on her name weeks ago, but they hadn’t told anyone, no matter how much Chas had complained about not knowing it. They’d kept saying it out loud to each other, discussing nicknames and whether her whole name sounded good all together. Liv had almost caught them a couple of times, but they were pretty sure she hadn’t overheard the name. Only the two of them knew what their tiny daughter was called. Robert smiled at Aaron. 

“Shall we let it out?” he asked.

“Yeah, I think we need to.”

“Well,” Rob said. “This is Abigail Olivia Dingle-Sugden.”

“Known as Abby,” Aaron said. “We think.”

Laurel beamed. “That’s lovely, you two. Really lovely.” 

Aaron pulled out his phone to take some photos. The flash was on and Abby made a noise when the light flashed in her face. 

“Mean daddy,” Rob told her. “Always in your face, isn’t he?”

Aaron laughed. 

“Give us a few minutes, will you?” Emily said. “Let us get Laurel cleaned up and into some clean clothes.”

“Where should we go?” Rob asked, standing up carefully, trying to not wobble Abby too much.

“There’s a nursery just a few doors along,” Emily said. “There shouldn’t be many people in it.”

It was another low-lit room, with empty plastic cots in it. There were a few chairs so Robert sat down in one and Aaron pulled another up to him. 

“Here,” Rob said. “You hold her.” He passed the baby over, touching her head as he did so. 

She stretched a bit, and coughed, but then settled into Aaron’s arms. 

“She’s tiny,” he said. “She’s just so tiny.”

“I know. It’s crazy, isn’t it?”

“It was mental, wasn’t it? The birth? I think I lost track of everything except Laurel.”

“You were amazing,” Robert said, touching his thigh. “You were just totally focussed on her and I think she needed that? She was just… It was like she trusted you to get her through it.”

“Didn’t do anything,” Aaron said. He was looking at Abby, and he touched her cheek gently. 

“You did. I was just watching both of you.”

“Thanks.” Aaron looked up at him. “She’s ours, mate.”

“She is.”

“Text Liv. Text Vic. Diane. My mum. Everyone.”

“Alright.” Robert pulled out his phone and took a picture of Aaron and Abby, and then sent it to practically everyone in his phone book, including Andy. He didn’t even know if Andy’s number was still live, or if Andy would care, but he couldn’t leave him out.

The replies started flooding in immediately, Robert’s phone chiming with messages. Then it rang. Diane. Robert rejected the call. 

“Not answering?” Aaron asked.

“We’ve got time for that later,” Rob said, turning the phone on to silent and sliding it back into his pocket. “All the time. This is just us.”

“Alright,” Aaron said, and smiled again. “I’m in love already.”

“So am I,” Rob said. “But not only with her.”

Aaron laughed and leant forward for a kiss, and Robert touched his hand and then Abby’s, resting his forehead against Aaron’s, watching their daughter.


End file.
